2004 NADA: Back to school

Dealership groups find it's best to do it yourself when it comes to training employees

Large dealership groups have begun to stress the kind of comprehensive corporate training programs seldom seen inside most auto dealerships.

For example, Hendrick Automotive Group has spent $1 million to renovate an old building for its new learning center. The 6,000-square-foot Hendrick University flanks the dealership company's headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.

The facility has two classrooms that each seat up to 48 people. It also has a restaurant-grade kitchen, a full gymnasium, computer workstations and audiovisual equipment with satellite capabilities. The university has eight full- and part-time trainers.

The hefty investment Hendrick has made in education - including another $1 million for regional training facilities in nine of Hendrick's 56 dealerships - is the latest example of the growing emphasis big automotive retailers are placing on employee education.

Sprawling dealership corporations have found they need formal training to unify employees behind corporate ideals and customer service standards. Smaller dealership businesses have less trouble conveying their ideals to staff because the owner is usually on hand.

At least three of the country's largest dealership groups - Hendrick; AutoNation Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Sonic Automotive Inc. of Charlotte, N.C. - have set up corporate universities for management training, instruction in customer service skills and employee orientation.

Sonic has a national training director and eight trainers in the field. The company's three-part orientation program for all employees covers Sonic's history, policy and procedures and a safety video.

Hendrick established its university in 1999 and cut the ribbon on its central training facility last June. Before it opened, training was done at local hotels and in dealerships. The company's extensive training calendar is arranged 60 days in advance.

All employees, from receptionists to general managers, are trained. They are required to take an orientation course on the company's history, core values and employee benefits.

John Lamkin, Hendrick's training director, compares the approach to that of a professional sports team. "A professional football team trains all year to play 16 regular season games," he says.

Trained managers

Dealerships usually promote their best salespeople and technicians into management. But these employees may lack business and management expertise. The corporate universities are meant to address these deficiencies.

Hendrick, for example, teaches hiring practices and employee motivation techniques. Managers learn how to conduct a good meeting. They also are taught how to correct employee behavior.

AutoNation, which has six full-time corporate trainers, started its university in August 2001 to train general managers. It later added training for other managers, as well as for salespeople, Internet sales staff and controllers.

Two-and-a-half-day orientation sessions introduce new Auto-Nation managers to the company's operating standards and help them adjust to the federal reporting requirements of a public company.

Sonic set up a dealership academy to instruct general managers in such areas as accounting, leadership, employee motivation and how to conduct employee performance reviews. It is developing a sales manager curriculum in 2004.

"At Sonic, we like to have Sonic people training Sonic people," says Dan Hinic, national training director. "We believe that our people have a vested interest in effectively training the people in our organization."

In the classroom

Large auto retailers are placing more emphasis on employee training. Public dealership groups Hendrick Automotive, AutoNation and Sonic Automotive each have set up corporate universities with curriculums that include

Dealership universities emphasize people skills and customer service standards.

AutoNation has developed its own sales process, called "Customer 1st." It is designed to focus on customer service, says George Gabriel, AutoNation's training director.

"We train to get better, more consistent, and to deliver a better customer experience," Gabriel says.

Hendrick University is certified to teach the nationally recognized "Management by Strengths" program, which identifies individual personality types to improve communication between employees and with customers.